Government is looking at using tents to shelter Ukrainian refugees this winter

A number of refugees from Ukraine were housed in tents in Gormanston military camp this summer but they are not deemed suitable for use during winter and were closed earlier this year. File picture: PA

The Government is examining the use of tented accommodation to house Ukrainian refugees in the coming weeks, even though they are not designed to be used in winter.

Senior Coalition sources have suggested that it would be better to offer those arriving here from Ukraine a tented shelter under State supervision as opposed to turning them away, as happened this weekend.

Ahead of Monday night's meeting of the Cabinet sub-committee, there is a frustration that some departments are seeking to blame each other for what happened when 43 refugees were turned away due to a lack of beds.
Senior sources have said the Taoiseach will seek to put an end to departmental “passing of the buck” and demand a much greater unified effort is brought to bear.

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has said the Government was “somewhat caught out” by the large numbers of Ukrainian refugees coming to Ireland this weekend. He said the system is under huge pressure but turning away refugees is not acceptable. 

“What's happened this weekend is not acceptable," Mr Coveney said. "The Government is not happy about it. We have a meeting tomorrow to try and put responses in place. And this, by the way, is not just the responsibility of one minister. It's the responsibility of us all in government to ensure that we find sufficient accommodation." 

He said the State has in a relatively short number of months accommodated almost 60,000 Ukrainians in people's homes, and in 22% of the hotel rooms across the country. He said: 

But it is no secret, Ireland is being put under huge pressure. Ireland has never faced a migration crisis like this before. 

“And unfortunately this weekend, we have been somewhat caught out in the context of the numbers that have come over the last few weeks. We need to respond to that as a government now and we will,” Mr Coveney said.

A major difficulty the Government is facing is that hotel operators are willing to accept Ukrainian refugees but not those seeking international protection.

With the Irish Red Cross saying there are about 2,000 unfulfilled pledges of accommodation, Government sources have said that much of what has been offered has been deemed unsuitable.

Senior Coalition sources suggest it would be better to offer people arriving to Ireland from Ukraine a tent such as those used earlier this  year rather than turning them away. File picture: PA

The Irish Red Cross said the situation is “pretty desperate” but said it has offered assistance to the Government but that pledge of help has of yet not been taken up.

Red Cross secretary general Liam O’Dwyer said there are about 2,000 unused pledges not yet taken up despite being offered by the public, but some of the places are in hard to get to rural areas and the families arriving from Ukraine are reluctant to move to those areas. He said: 

We have offered support to the government and they haven't taken that up just yet. I think the situation is fairly desperate at the moment.

Mr O’Dwyer said he is aware that a significant number of commercial offers have come through our office directly into the department.

As these are very much commercial offers, what is done with them is in the hands of the Government, he said.

Mr O’Dwyer also hit out at the Department of Housing’s failure to bring forward its plan to use modular housing, saying: “We haven't heard of the modular housing”.